Cocaine news...read last paragraph

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug. Since you’re here in this forum, I assume you already know that; in fact, you probably know much of the stats concerning this drug. I will attempt to offer information not usually known or discussed.

In 2013, cocaine accounted for almost 6 percent of all admissions to drug abuse treatment programs. The majority of individuals (68 percent in 2013) who seek treatment for cocaine use smoke crack and are likely to be poly-drug users, meaning, they use more than one substance.

In 2014, there were about 1.5 million cocaine users aged 12 or older (0.6 percent of the population). Adults aged 18 to 25 years have a higher rate of cocaine use than any other age group, with 1.4 percent of young adults reporting past-month cocaine use.

Drug addiction is a complex disease involving changes in the brain as well as a wide range of social, familial, and other environmental factors; therefore, treatment of cocaine addiction must address this broad context as well as any other co-occurring mental disorders that require additional behavioral or pharmacological interventions.

Repeated cocaine use can produce addiction and other significant adverse health consequences. In 2014, about 913,000 Americans met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for dependence or abuse of cocaine (in any form) during the past 12 months.

Further, data from the 2011 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) report showed that cocaine was involved in 505,224 of the nearly 1.3 million visits to emergency departments for drug misuse or abuse.

This translates to over one in three drug misuse or abuse-related emergency department visits (40 percent) that involved cocaine.

Cocaine causes heart attacks, strokes, or seizures—all of which can result in sudden death – no matter how it is ingested. Use of cocaine, like other drugs of abuse, induces long-term changes in the brain.

Although addiction researchers have focused on adaptations in the brain’s reward system, drugs also affect the brain pathways that respond to stress. Stress can contribute to cocaine relapse, and cocaine use disorders frequently co-occur with stress-related disorders.

Animals that have received cocaine repeatedly are more likely to seek the drug in response to stress, and the more of the drug they have taken, the more stress affects this behavior. Research suggests that cocaine elevates stress hormones.

Presently, there are no medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat cocaine addiction, though researchers are exploring a variety of neurobiological targets. Past research has primarily focused on dopamine, but scientists have also found that cocaine use induces changes in the brain related to other neurotransmitters—including serotonin, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), norepinephrine, and glutamate.

Researchers are currently testing medications that act at the dopamine D3 receptor, a subtype of dopamine receptor that is abundant in the emotion and reward centers of the brain. Other research is testing compounds (e.g., N-acetylcysteine) that restore the balance between excitatory (glutamate) and inhibitory (GABA) neurotransmission, which is disrupted by long-term cocaine use. Research in animals is also looking at medications (e.g., lorcaserin) that act at serotonin receptors.

Several medications marketed for other diseases show promise in reducing cocaine use within controlled clinical trials. Among these, disulfiram, which is used to treat alcoholism, has shown the most promise. Scientists do not yet know exactly how disulfiram reduces cocaine use, though its effects may be related to its ability to inhibit an enzyme that converts dopamine to norepinephrine. However, disulfiram does not work for everyone.

Many behavioral treatments for cocaine addiction have proven to be effective in both residential and outpatient settings. Behavioral therapies are often the only available and effective treatments for many drug problems, including stimulant addictions. However, the integration of behavioral and pharmacological treatments may ultimately prove to be the most effective approach.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective approach for preventing relapse. This approach helps patients develop critical skills that support long-term abstinence—including the ability to recognize the situations in which they are most likely to use cocaine, avoid these situations, and cope more effectively with a range of problems associated with drug use. This therapy can also be used in conjunction with other treatments, thereby maximizing the benefits of both.

Scientists have found promising results from telephone-based counseling as a low-cost method to deliver aftercare. For example, people who misused stimulants who participated in seven sessions of telephone counseling showed decreasing drug use during the first 3 months, whereas those who did not receive calls increased their use. Voucher incentives can boost patients' willingness to participate in telephone aftercare, doubling the number of sessions received according to one study.

Community-based recovery groups—such as Cocaine Anonymous—that use a 12-step program can also be helpful in maintaining abstinence. Participants may benefit from the supportive fellowship and from sharing with those experiencing common problems and issues.

Scientists have found that people who maintained cocaine abstinence for approximately 9 months showed gray matter levels similar to or greater than those of people who had never used the drug. The results suggest that abstinence helps restore the functioning of this brain circuit.

My Comments

What miracles we are! Our brains, our beautiful brains that the Creator has built for us... apparently has the ability to heal itself eventually, over time. If we just give it the respect of abstinence from abusing something so treacherous as Cocaine!

I sincerely pray that we all grasp the significance of all that... that we can be renewed! If we just allow our brains to heal from its assault.

I'm sorry, that just struck me as being such a testimony of the Creator's love for us! I need to get offline and ponder this a while. I am just struggling to find words.....

Thanks Tracy, for your recent information on cocaine. I had never heard such hopeful news for cocaine users! To think that, if one can stay clean for 9 months, that their brains will appear as though they’d never even had cocaine before….now, that's truly exciting! I realize 9 months is a long time to stay clean, but if one has sufficient support, along with personal determination, it is possible.

I think that's the key, really. To have good external and internal support.

I have a friend who has visited this forum but hasn't written yet - too gunshy - but he’ll come around. He's tried so often to quit, I suspect he's afraid of making another commitment. Afraid it'd be “another empty promise” or “another failed attempt”, not sure which, both are a blow to his ego.

This new information just might be the incentive to keep him on track. I'll talk to him later today and let you know how it goes.

Yeah, I agree. I got the save vibe when I read it. If I can stay clean for nine months, then maybe there's hope for me yet! I know it's gonna be hard, damn hard, but at least now I think there's some hope.

I just am so tired of trying and failing, trying and failing. I get pretty depressed about it sometimes. I just feel so lost and alone. Part of it is my own doing, I mean I'm more antisocial now. I don't really know who to trust. Like baby doll said her guy picker was broken, well my buddy picker is broken. I just don't trust anybody now and I don't know who to trust. I'm afraid to reach out to new people - I've burned so many bridges.

Armanij79, I just read your post about being afraid to reach out. You just did! That's all you need to do to fix your “buddy picker”. There are several people who share your predicament on this very forum! Perhaps you can reach out to one of us/them.

If you like, I'd be happy to be that special friend who helps to support you to reach that goal of staying clean for 9 months. I'm not going anywhere. I've already developed some good relationships here in this forum - I love that we can pm each other!

Yeah, I agree. I got the save vibe when I read it. If I can stay clean for nine months, then maybe there's hope for me yet! I know it's gonna be hard, damn hard, but at least now I think there's some hope.

I just am so tired of trying and failing, trying and failing. I get pretty depressed about it sometimes. I just feel so lost and alone. Part of it is my own doing, I mean I'm more antisocial now. I don't really know who to trust. Like baby doll said her guy picker was broken, well my buddy picker is broken. I just don't trust anybody now and I don't know who to trust. I'm afraid to reach out to new people - I've burned so many bridges.

Hey, armani, I wanna be your buddy too! You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours, kind of thing. Now that I'm a “working gal” lol… I gotta stay on my toes. I just can't lose this chance to make a real change in my life.

Tracy won't say it, but I'm the one she's talking about. Ever since I starting coming here, she reached out to me and made me feel welcome. She didn't flinch an eyeball when I told her stuff in pm. (Guess I wouldn't really be able to tell since it was texting, lol, but you know what i mean.) Nothing i ever said phazed her, so i felt like i could trust her.

well, at one point, i got a little frustrated cuz i couldn't type fast enough. she never rushed me. i always felt loke i was important to her. Now that was really cool! knowing i could call or text her anytime. yeah, that meant a lot.

Who knows maybe we oughta form a buddy system here in the forum. Open to whoever wants a little extra friend help. I keep trying to get my friends here, but most arent really ready to change yet. Still trying tho.

About Cocaine. Most of it here in Louisiana comes from either Houston or Miami. BIG BIG problem here. I got family selling and using out here. We get lots of Colombian, Mexican and Caribbean traffickers traveling back and forth, back and forth from Miami, Houston, or once in a while, along the the southwest border on I-10, I-12, I-20 (East / West routes) and I-55 (North / South route).